Kenneth Branagh recently shared stories about working with Christopher Nolan and his time on the Harry Potter film series during a career conversation at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The actor and director received the inaugural EIFF Outstanding Contribution to Cinema award on August 16, 2026 before sitting down with Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw for a wide-ranging discussion about his four decades in film and theatre.
The festival screened Branagh’s four-hour epic Hamlet earlier in the day before the evening talk. Branagh used his acceptance speech to highlight the importance of film festivals, saying they offer a lifeline to movies that struggle to find traditional theatrical release paths.
The ‘Tenet’ Challenge: Learning Russian Backwards
Branagh recalled a memorable experience working with Christopher Nolan on the 2020 film Tenet. He played a Russian oligarch in the movie, which features scenes where characters move backwards through time.
During production, Branagh asked Nolan whether his character should speak Russian backwards while moving backwards. He described seeing “a terrible, dangerous light in his eye” when he made the suggestion. Nolan responded with a simple “Yes, I think you would”.
Branagh then spent his lunch break learning to speak Russian backwards. He not only had to learn the dialogue in reverse but also deliver it with a Russian accent. The actor later revealed that he read the Tenet screenplay more times than any other script he had ever worked on.
The ‘Harry Potter’ Surprise: From Three Weeks to Nine Months
Branagh also shared his unexpected journey with the Harry Potter franchise. He played the vain professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).
When he first took the role, Branagh assumed the work would last about three or four weeks. Instead, he ended up working on the film for nine months. He described the production crew list as “the size of a telephone directory”.
On his first day of filming, Branagh thought he saw Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint on set. He later discovered these were stunt doubles and stand-ins filling an entire classroom while the young stars were attending school. When the real actors finally appeared, Hogwarts had become its own ecosystem. Branagh observed that “notes were being passed” and “little darts were being thrown at people”.
For Branagh, the scale of the production was staggering. He noted that children were essentially living inside a fictional school while surrounded by “the entire British film industry”.
Shakespeare and the ‘I Don’t Know’ Philosophy
The conversation frequently returned to Shakespeare, a subject close to Branagh’s heart. He spoke about his early theatre company’s “missionary zeal” to make the plays feel immediate and accessible. Branagh wanted his parents to be able to watch Shakespeare “and not feel they had to read the play beforehand”.
He explained that when Shakespeare was performed with truth, “there was nothing in the way” and audiences could feel and understand it. This approach guided his directorial debut Henry V, made despite producer David Puttnam’s warning that the film could fail and damage Branagh’s career. Puttnam later sent a note of apology retracting his concerns.
Branagh also shared one of the most valuable lessons he learned as a director. He summed it up in three words: “I don’t know.”
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Personal Moment with ‘Belfast’
The most personal moment of the afternoon came when Branagh discussed his film Belfast. He wrote the semi-autobiographical movie during the pandemic. The story had stayed inside him for about 40 years before he finally wrote it down.
When his sister read the script, she told him: “My God, for a very private man, you’ve really put it all out there now, haven’t you?”
The Edinburgh International Film Festival ran from August 12 to August 23, 2026. Branagh’s appearance on August 16 marked one of the festival’s major events, alongside other notable attendees including Ewan McGregor, Bruce Dern, and documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
The festival also screened Branagh’s 1996 adaptation of Hamlet on the day of his appearance. The four-hour epic gave audiences a chance to see the Shakespeare adaptation that helped establish Branagh as a major directing talent.
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